In recent years, businesses have spent an increasing amount of effort toward improving the aesthetic appeal of their work places, including the landscaping of their office buildings or complexes. Commercial landscaping also has become critical in the increasingly competitive commercial real estate market. The home improvement industry also has recently experienced rapid growth, especially in the area of landscaping.
Presently, ground covers of varying designs are used to prevent the growth of grass, weeds or other foliage within a specified area. Ground covers are particularly popular tool in landscaping, whereby a ground cover is configured around a tree, shrub or post to prevent the undesirable growth of grass, weeds or other foliage in the area surrounding the object. This eliminates the awkward and time consuming task of mowing and edging around the object, and moreover, decreases the likelihood of damage to the tree or bush caused by the mower or trimmer. A ground cover also enhances the appearance to a lawn or landscape by providing more manicured features.
An example of a ground cover for inhibiting the growth of grass or weeds around the base of a tree is the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,001. The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,001 provides a central opening and a plurality of concentric perforated circles about that opening for accommodating tree trunks of varying size. A radial slit is provided from the central opening to the edge of the cover so that the cover may be placed around an existing tree. The ground cover is secured by a stabilizer ring and/or anchor hooks provided at the edge of the cover. The ground cover, however, is circular and could not be used readily on closely spaced trees, shrubs or post because the ground covers would overlap, making it difficult to adequately secure the overlapping portions of the adjacent ground covers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,557 also describes a ground cover having a central opening and a plurality of scored concentric circles about the central opening for accommodating different size tree trunks. A radial slit extending from the central opening to the perimeter of the ground cover allows the ground cover to be placed around existing objects. The ground cover disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,557 is circular, and comprises a multi-layer design having a central portion of one thickness, an intermediate portion of greater thickness than the central portion, and an outer portion which is tapered toward the perimeter of the ground cover. This ground cover is represented to reflect an advancement by providing a plurality of drainage holes which allow water and air to pass to the roots of the trees below the ground cover. The circular design, however, prohibits this ground cover from being positioned in a landscaping arrangement where the tree, shrub or post is confined by a corner or square design such as a tree or shrub positioned in a square opening along a concrete sidewalk. The multi-layer configuration in conjunction with the circular design likewise prohibits these ground covers from being used with closely spaced adjacent objects where the covers would overlap.
An example of a ground cover in a square configuration is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,203. The ground cover disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,203 provides a central opening through which a tree trunk upwardly extends, surrounded by a plurality of semicircular slits forming flaps which can be removed to accommodate any increase in the size of the tree trunk. While this device is intended to protect the trunk of the tree from damage by lawn care devices by providing a barrier wall around the central opening and flaps, the barrier wall inherently limits how close adjacent trees, shrubs or posts could be positioned. In addition, the barrier wall is manufactured in a specific configuration, such as square or circle, and is not capable of being custom-fitted on site for a particular landscaping feature or shape.
While some of the known landscaping cover provides indicia or other guide markings which enable the user to trim the cover to a desired configuration, none of the known covers provide an integrally molded guide for the user's utility knife or other cutting mean to ensure that the trimming of the cover is done to exact specifications. Further, none of the known covers provide means for customizing the shape of the cover to accommodate particular landscaping features.
Thus, it would be desirable to have a landscaping ground cover which is light weight, inexpensive to manufacture, sizable to fit various size trees, shrubs or posts, and capable of being customized to a particular shape.